Lunatic Inquisition
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This content was introduced in Shadow of the Mad King 2012 and is subsequently only available during Halloween. Notes: Unavailable in 2015 and 2016. |
Lunatic Inquisition is a PvP style activity within the Mad King's Labyrinth that has unique rules for Halloween. It isn't counted as one of the areas of the Mad King's Realm since it's part of the Mad King's Labyrinth.
The game starts with one player selected as the sole member of the Courtier team and all of the other players as villagers. The Courtier starts in the center of the labyrinth and the villagers spawn randomly around the edges of the labyrinth. When a courtier kills a villager, the villager is respawned at the center of the labyrinth as a courtier. The game ends when all villagers have been killed/converted (Courtier Victory) or the time limit runs out with at least one villager remaining (Villager Victory).
Getting there[edit]
Enter through any Haunted Door with a pumpkin icon 
. Talk to the Lunatic Boatman and ask to be moved to the Lunatic Inquisition. He is also located in Plains of Ashford, Queensdale, Caledon Forest, Metrica Province and Wayfarer Foothills. In each of those five maps, he is always near the playable race's home city entrance.
The status bar at the top of the screen will show the time until the next round. Each round lasting 6:00 minutes. It also displays your personal points earned and the top player's total.
Mechanics[edit]
Villagers[edit]
- Find hidden tools and secrets to help you.
- Survive the night.
Rule #1: Don't die. While playing as a villager, players begin with no skills other than a 10 second self-stealth skill. Enemy players are Lunatic Courtiers, whose objective is to kill Villagers. They have melee attacks as well as a leap attack and a scarecrow that causes fear. Acquiring tools lying around the map will give Villagers a skill that can be used once to hinder enemy courtiers.
Villager skills[edit]
| # | Skill | 
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|
Description | Bundle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Hide in Shadows | 45 | Become invisible, as long as you remain in place. | - | |
| Basic bundles | |||||
| 1 | Bone Crack | ¼ | Strike your foe with the bone, stunning them. | Bone | |
| 1 | Burn | ½ | 5 | Throw your torch at your foe, setting them on fire. | Torch |
| 1 | Throw Web | ½ | 5 | Throw your web at your foe, immobilizing them. | Spider Web |
| 1 | Throw Goo | ½ | 5 | Throw your goo at your foe, blinding them. | Black Goo |
| 1 | Consume | 5 | Consume the rations you've found to restore your health. | Food | |
| Special bundles | |||||
| 1 | Hammer Smash | ½ | Smash the ground and hit nearby foes. | Hammer | |
| 2 | Mighty Smash | 1 | 45 | Launch your foe with a powerful smash. | Hammer |
| 1 | Throw Rock | 1 | Throw a rock to knock down your foe. | Boulder | |
| 1 | Pumpkin Smash | 1½ | Smash your pumpkin over your foe's head. | Pumpkin | |
| 1 | Jack-o'-Lantern Smash | 1½ | Smash your Jack-o'-Lantern over your foe's head. | Jack-o'-Lantern | |
| 1 | Blunderbuss | 1 | Fire a cloud of shrapnel that causes more damage the closer you are to foes. | Blunderbuss Rifle | |
| 1 |  Rifle Butt
|
½ | 3 | Push your foe back with your rifle butt. | Blunderbuss Rifle |
| 1 | Ripper | ¾ | Hit your foe with a final brutal strike. | Ripper | |
Only one bundle can be equipped at a time (excluding rifles, which persist after picking up other items). Picking up another will drop your current one at your position. Bundles periodically respawn around the map. There is an NPC ghost in each corner of the map with an event that asks villagers to collect a certain type of item (Bone, Spider Web, Black Goo, or Torch) in order to form friendly NPC patrols to hinder the courtiers. The type of item to collect is less common in that corner of the map, requiring villagers to stray farther in search of them.
- Special bundles
- Hammer — found on the floor in the labyrinth
- Boulder — created when smashing an alarm wall with a hammer
- Pumpkin — created when hitting a hanged pumpkin with a boulder
- Jack-o'-Lantern — created when smashing a pumpkin on a teleport pad
- Blunderbuss Rifle — unlocked by giving a Jack-o'-Lantern to Mad King Thorn in the center of the labyrinth
- Ammo is gained by eating at Mad King's feasts laid out from gathering event NPCs.
- Ripper — appears at the feet of last villager alive
In straight one on one combat, villagers will be at a big disadvantage against courtiers. Instead, use tools to either hinder them as you run or work together in killing courtiers. Often, the best strategy is simply to hide somewhere and prepare to stealth if a courtier comes near or to run away. Courtiers have the ability to force a Simon Says style action, where failing to complete the correct action will result in damage to the villager. When this occurs, villagers will be given several skills for actions such as cowering or dancing. Normally, this is not difficult, but if you are being chased by a courtier, it can be deadly. By successfully doing the emote the Mad King demands, you will be stuck in a different animation depending on the skill used but your stealth ability cooldown will be refreshed and can be used at anytime (such as when stuck in an emote). Villagers have superior movement speed to courtiers, however courtiers can place scarecrow that emits a shockwave that causes fear, which forces you to run away from any Courtiers you have line of sight to. Time your dodge roll to be a moment after the scarecrow is placed, because the shockwave does not occur the exact instant the scarecrow spawns. Other hazards around the map include traps placed by courtiers that can damage or hinder you.
Courtiers[edit]
- Defeat villagers to convert them.
- Terrorize villagers before their conversion for extra points.
- Beseech the Mad King to tell villagers what to do
As a courtier, you must kill any villager you find. Upon killing a villager, they will respawn as a courtier whose objectives are now the same as yours. Your combat skills should prove sufficiently capable of killing a villager, though catching them is not quite as easy. The map is fairly large, but there are teleportation platforms placed at the north, south, east and west of the labyrinth, which can teleport you freely between them. Tools lying around can be used by both you and the villagers, so make sure to use them whenever possible to deny their use by villagers. Other than tools, villagers' only defense is a 10 second stealth skill. Each tool allows you to set a different trap.
Courtiers skills[edit]
| # | Skill |
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Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chop | 1½ | Deliver three hits to your foe. | |
| 2 | Eviscerate | ¾ | 10 | Leap at your foe with a devastating attack. |
| 3 | Terrifying Screech | ¾ | 15 | Inflict fear with a loud shout. |
| 4 | Plant Scarecrow | ¼ | 15 | Summon a scarecrow to terrify villagers. You can teleport to your scarecrow, though it doubles the recharge time. |
| 4 | Shadow Walk
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Teleport to your scarecrow. This doubles the recharge time. | ||
| 5 | Traps | Find items in the maze to use as traps for villagers. | ||
| 6 | Mad King Says Shrug | 1½ | 50 | Beseech the Mad King to tell the villagers what to do. |
| 7 | Mad King Says Cower | 1½ | 30 | Beseech the Mad King to tell the villagers what to do. |
| 8 | Mad King Says Salute | 1½ | 40 | Beseech the Mad King to tell the villagers what to do. |
| 9 | Mad King Says Ponder | 1½ | 60 | Beseech the Mad King to tell the villagers what to do. |
| 0 | Mad King Says Dance | 1½ | 70 | Beseech the Mad King to tell the villagers what to do. |
| Traps | ||||
| 5 | Web Trap | ½ | 25 | Place a spiderweb trap to immobilize villagers. |
| 5 | Fire Trap | ½ | 25 | Lay a fire trap to burn villagers. |
| 5 | Fake Banquet | ½ | 25 | Create a fake banquet to poison villagers. |
| 5 | Ink Trap | ½ | 25 | Plant a trap that will ink your target, causing them to leave a trail only you can see. |
| 5 | Bone Trap | ½ | 25 | Bury a bone, bonding you to the location. When a villager triggers the trap, you will be teleported back. |
Try to set traps at corners or other locations that are likely to be crossed by fleeing villagers. Your most valuable normal skill is your scarecrow, which can be placed to cause a shockwave the inflicts fear in villagers. Contrary to what one might think, the Fear effect does not drive the Villager from the scarecrow, but instead from any nearby Lunatics. You cannot herd Villagers toward you by using a scarecrow. You can also teleport to the scarecrow's location in order to close distance, though this doubles the recharge time of the scarecrow. Don't forget to beseech to the Mad King when confronting villagers in order to force them to perform a Simon Says like action, which can damage or stall them.
Tips[edit]
- Certain parts of the labyrinth have trapped walls that Villagers can trigger, causing a ping on the map that reveals your location to Villager and Courtier alike. A grotesque face will pop out of the wall in the likeness of the Mad King.
- These faces can be smashed with a Hammer, disabling the trap for a minute or so and spawning boulder objects.
- This is a 5 point discovery.
- Boulders are lost on use but do a fair amount of damage to ghosts and cause knockdown.
- These faces can be smashed with a Hammer, disabling the trap for a minute or so and spawning boulder objects.
- Around the inner ring are several sconces. Lighting them all (stand on each while holding a torch) awards 25 points.
- Remember that ranged objects can be thrown behind you as long as you have an enemy targeted. Use this to your advantage.
- It's best to use torches and spider webs on pursuing Courtiers as they deal no damage and therefore do not place you in-combat, keeping you mobile.
- Killing a Courtier does very little, as they respawn in the same spot shortly, with invulnerability to boot. Flee immediately after slaying Courtiers.
- Killing a courtier is worth 20 points.
- The last Villager will start glowing similar to the first Courtier picked for a match, after which The Ripper will spawn on their current location. It deals immense damage to Courtiers, but you can't use its skills while moving.
- Standing on a teleport pad as a Courtier will show the location of any Villagers not currently using the Hide skill on the minimap as red dots.
- Sometimes NPC gatherers will also appear as red dots on the minimap. No known reason. Enemy players' pets will also appear at the Mad King's location temporarily, and display on the minimap.
- Courtiers will get a 10 minute swiftness boon for each villager they kill. Despite this effect's description, it stacks in intensity, increasing a courtier's speed very slightly for each stack.
- The Courtier's 2nd skill Eviscerate attack does the most damage and delays effects of CC until the end of the leap.
- You don't need to make any kills in order to gain credit for participation. You must however use a means to interact with the enemy side to gain the Chest or Splendid Chest. The total points are not relevant to any acquired Chests or Trick-or-Treat Bags.
Events[edit]
Give Ewan webs to create a feast (1)- Give Ewan webs to summon a plastic spider patrol (1)
- Give Maisie bones to create a feast (1)
- Give Maisie bones to summon a skeleton patrol (1)
- Give Portia torches to create a feast (1)
- Give Portia torches to summon an imp patrol (1)
- Give Samson ink to create a feast (1)
- Give Samson ink to summon an ooze patrol (1)
Each NPC starts the game offering their respective "create a feast" event. Once that event has been completed, the NPC then offers their "summon a patrol" event. Following this a final event will appear to summon a single veteran creature.
Rewards[edit]
Since 2018[edit]
- Victory
- Splendid Chest (once a day)
- Villagers - 15 Trick-or-Treat Bags
- Courtiers - 5 Trick-or-Treat Bags
- Defeat
- Chest (once a day)
- 3 Trick-or-Treat Bags
Historical rewards[edit]
- Victory
- If interacted with the opposing side:
- Splendid Chest (once a day)
- As a courtier:
- As a villager:
- As the last villager standing:
- Defeat
- Chest (once a day)
NPCs[edit]
Ambient dialogue[edit]
- When ordered to do any emote
- Mad King Thorn: Your Mad King says...
- Mad King Thorn: <EMOTE>!
- When getting killed by the Mad King Thorn
- Mad King Thorn: What's you and about to be dead? Answer: you! (laughter)
- Mad King Thorn: DIE!
Notes[edit]
- Similar to other PvP modes, pressing the 'B' key will allow players to see the scores.
- As a villager, falling off the cliffs on the map's edge will teleport the player a short distance away; Courtiers will respawn at the Mad King's tower.
- Players can return to the place they were when they talked to Rasmus or the Boatman via the Door icon above their minimap.
- Sometimes at the start of a match before it begins the Mad King shouts "The king (that's me) grows bored. More death! More bloodshed! Lunatics!" The effects of this are not currently known.
- The activity was first introduced with the October 22, 2012 update, as part of the Shadow of the Mad King 2012 release, and has returned for every following Halloween except in 2015 and 2016.
Trivia[edit]
- Originally player could also talk to an NPC named Rasmus who was found standing near the Mystic Plaza in Lion's Arch to enter the activity.
- Shares a great many similarities with the kid's game Ghosts in the Graveyard.
- Players will be given transformations that temporarily equip sets of armor:
- Players on the side of the Villagers will be temporarily given level 0 basic Country Armor chest [&AgFEAAAA], leggings [&AgH9CQAA] and boots [&AgErAgAA].
- Players on the side of the Inquisition will temporarily wear Zhed's armor's chest [&AgFAAgAA], leggins [&AgHrCQAA] and boots [&AgFAAgAA], which use Seer armor skins, and carry a bundle with the apperances of Dreadwing axe [&ClESAAA=] and Reaper of Souls dagger [&CnkSAAA=].
- It's possible to see the icons of the armors by hovering the mouse over the icons of chests, leggins and boots that can be equipped by the character in the trading post or the inventory.
| Daily activities | |
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| Historical | |
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Festival activities | |
 Lunar New Year
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 Festival of the Four Winds
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| Halloween
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 Wintersday
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